I Spy Letter Sounds Coloring Pages

My sons love I Spy games, books, jars, you name it... I created these beginning letter sound I Spy coloring pages for the whole alphabet and you can print them for free! Hope your little 007 enjoys these, they keep mine busy for a long time.

I Spy Letter Sounds Coloring Pages

DIY Angry Bird Star Wars Costumes

Okay, I'm going to apologize in advance because this will be the lamest blog post ever. I don't have actual tutorials. Sorry, sorry, sorry! I was in a frenzy to whip these costumes up and didn't take any pics during the process but I will tell you what I did. My kids wanted to be Angry Birds for Halloween, but not just the regular birds, no no that would be too easy. They wanted Angry Bird Star Wars! These seem complicated but they weren't that bad really. If you know how to sew, you should be able to duplicate just from looking at the pictures. I barely know how to sew and I figured it out. But if you don't sew, you you can still make these. Seriously. You just need a glue gun and some patience... and some band-aids probably (for the glue gun burns) 

I just went to Google and searched for the characters we wanted. Printed out large images of their faces to use as templates. I used felt to cut out all the faces and glued them to the front of the costumes with a hot glue gun. 

My son has been working on sight words and word families so I decided to create some activities around his interests: Mario Brothers, Ninja Turtles, Lego, and Pokemon. I am providing free printable pages to create these games at the bottom of the post. I recommend laminating as much of these as you can in order to keep them durable for continued use. If you are unable to laminate them I would definitely recommend printing on cardstock. I hope your little one enjoys these as much as mine is. For us, there is no better way to learn than through play!

Super Hero Chore Chart & Reward System

I recently started working a little harder to make sure my boys are learning about responsibility. I wanted to have them track their chores and come up with a reward system other than the standard allowance. I saw several ideas regarding a "Chore Store" and I really liked the idea but I wanted to have something cute that I could theme all together with the chore charts. My kids love super heroes so I decided to use that as a theme. 

I created a chore board where I could keep track of everything. Both of my boys chore charts are on the board along with a pocket for extra chores (Super Jobs) and hooks to hang bags for their tickets. I decided to give my kids tickets as rewards instead of money because I felt it would be easier for me and the learning  concept is the same for them. 

They have their standard daily chores that they each complete and earn one ticket per day for these. Then I have the extra chores (Super Jobs) in a pocket that they can choose to complete if they want. There are extra chores like dust, mop, wipe down the baseboards, etc... each chore is printed with the reward associated with it and laminated and kept in a pouch on the board. You wouldn't believe how often my kids are asking to do extra chores!

One of my sons is only 3 so his "chores" are really more about him taking responsibility for himself and his daily routine. Getting himself dressed, brushing his teeth, making his bed, etc... I designed his chore chart to be very simple for him. I created pictures of some of his favorite super heroes demonstrating what he should be working on and then there are just flaps to close as he completes the chore "BAM" he's done! 

 On Friday nights I open the chore store "Super Store" and the boys are able to shop and trade in their tickets for various prizes. I shop at thrift stores, garage sales, ebay, Dollar Tree, etc... to find all kinds of stuff for a good deal. I like that I am able to offer a big variety and I'm not roped in to a set dollar amount like I would be if I had agreed to an allowance. I can buy items at my own leisure and decide the value of them. I have all sorts of items from puzzles, art supplies, craft stuff, books, games, and toys of all types. I also include coupons I create for things like Ice Cream Sundae night, Trip to the Movies, Stay Up an Extra 30 Minutes, etc... I have things for higher amounts to encourage saving and things that would be fun for both boys which would encourage them to work together to earn the tickets to get it.

Chores are a "Super" time in our house now!

Before I had baby number 3 I decided to make some quiet time activities for my toddler. My idea was that I could pull these items out when I needed to feed the baby so he would be occupied, quiet, and hopefully distracted long enough for me to get through a feeding. He really enjoys playing with the things I created. Today I'm going to share with you 2 projects that I made using magnets.